London Beckons
by ggwweenn1
Summary: Victorian London is Gwen's new home. She has a new job in Kanaya's dress shop, a new boarding house own by Mrs. Nicolas Cage, and a Medigo maid to tend to her. How will her fate be twisted in this tale of pirates, steam and high society?
1. Chapter 1

"Get back here!" I heard shouted from the street. I turned in my seat and looked out the window.

A young man, probably no older than me, ran past. He had spikey blonde hair and odd dark goggles. Running alongside him was a woman with raven black hair that looked almost blue in the light morning. They were being quickly pursued by a woman in constable's garb, and she seemed to be catching up.

The commotion ended as quickly as it had come. I sipped my tea, now lukewarm and though about the past few days.

A month ago, while I was still living and working in a general store in Boston, I had received a telegraph from my cousin here in London. She was the co-owner of a dress shop and she was in need of another seamstress. So I left Boston, there was nothing left for me there, and took an airship to London. I shall start my story, officially from this moment I was seated in a coffee shop down the street from my lodgings.

"Nepeta, could you please draw the curtains?" A voice called from the back of the shoppe. The serving girl, who had been cleaning the counter earlier, now went to the front of the store and drew the curtains closed.

"I thank you for rescuing us Miss Crocker." A nasal woman's voice came from the back. The new people I had yet to see walked into the main part of the shoppe from the back room. It took me a moment, but I recognized the man and the woman who were chased by my window only minutes before.

All three of them stopped in their tracks when they saw me. The two from the street looked at, who I could only assume was, Miss Crocker. Miss Crocker looked at Nepeta. Nepeta looked innocent.

"What?" She asked, not knowing what the problem was. Miss Crocker rolled her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me there was a customer?" Miss Crocker asked. Nepeta looked at me, as if just realizing I was there.

"Oh! Well, you never asked." She said. Miss Crocker looked to me.

"You won't tell anyone will you?" She asked me. I thought, tapping my chin with my gloved hand.

"Well, the officer who was chasing you would probably grant me a boon to know where you two are hiding out," The man started to dart towards me, but Miss Crocker grabbed his arm to stop him. "But I rather like this little shoppe. So, I think I will hold my tongue." I finished.

Everyone looked relieved. Nepeta started making everyone coffee and the man came over and sat across from me.

"So, you must be new." He said, peering over his tinted, oddly shaped goggles. His eyes were an odd shade of orange. Odd goggles, odd eyes, odd hair. This was a very odd man.

"Why would you assume that?" I asked, sipping the coffee Nepeta had just served me.

"You may be dressed like a Londoner, you may talk like a Londoner, but a true Londoner would know who we are." He said, gesturing between his companion and himself.

"And who, exactly, are you?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. He smirked.

"We," He paused, once again gesturing to his companion and himself. ", are Captains Dirk and Vriska. Some call us pirates, others call us friends-" He was cut off but Vriska.

"But all call us dangerous." She hissed. I laughed.

"You two are the feared sky pirates? I have heard of you, word travels you know, but I though you would be much more…" I trailed off, not wanting to offend. Too late. Vriska slapped her hand down on the table and leaned extremely close to my face.

"More what?" Vriska hissed. I stared right back.

"More muchier. Occasionally, when dock hands and sailors would come to my family's shoppe, they would tell my father stories of two vicious, nameless sky pirates, taking airships and capturing dirigibles. Although I thought they would be long dead by now." I said. They laughed.

"Oh, they are! The original pair of sky pirates have been dead for centuries!" Vriska said. I nodded.

"You just kind of took up their legacy?" I asked. Dirk nodded.

"Yes, in a way we adopted it to fit our own personalities and twisted the stories a tad. Now they are all ours." He said. Vriska looked at her pocket watch.

"Ah yes well, one of our ships is here. So we must abscond. Ta ta." Vriska said with a backwards wave. Dirk got up and flipped a coin at Nepeta as he climbed the stairs in the back of the shoppe. Jane checked the watch that was on a chain around her neck and frowned.

"I need to be off as well. Nepeta, would you be a dear and lock up?" She said. Nepeta nodded. "Miss…" She trailed off, not knowing my name. I realized that I had never gave it.

"Miss Guinee. Gwendolyn Guinee." I said. She smiled.

"Would you like me too walk you home? The streets of London are not safe for any young lady who walks alone." She said as we left the shoppe. I shook my head.

"I will be quite careful, I assure you." I said. She nodded.

"Of course. Be seeing you." She said. She waved her hand and within minutes was in a _. The mechanical horses pulled her away from me and my destination.

I started making my way back towards my lodgings as the sun began to set on my first full day in London.


	2. Chapter 2

I reached my lodgings safe and sound in ten minutes time. I was greeted by the sight of my land lady Mrs. Cage. She was a very old widow with no children and a large house. She rented it out and tended to too it, if only for the company.

Mrs. Cage was in the kitchen cooking supper. On my way upstairs to my room, I ran into my other housemate, whom I had yet to meet.

"Hell0. My name is Gwen Guinee, your new housemate." I told her.

"Pleasure to meet you. My name is Aradia Medigo. Call me Aradia." She said with a smile as she shook my hand. She made her way down the stairs as I made mine up.

I entered my room and looked at all my clothes spread across the bed. I had three day dresses, a nightgown, four underdresses, a few pairs of bloomers, a set of petticoats and a nicer evening dress. I didn't own a truly formal gown because I was doubtful that I would ever wear it. I hung my dresses in the wardrobe and tucked my underclothes into the drawers before looking back into my trunk.

The only items remaining were my powder box, my box of hair pins, and my hat boxes. I placed my powder and my hair pins on my dressing table and looked back to my hat boxes.

I had been making ladies hats for years now. On my days off I would go to the hatter and adorn the hats he had already treated with Mercury. I would tie on a ribbon and stick in some feathers or fabric flowers or a brooch. Then I would put it in a box and put it in a pile to be shipped off to the ladies of society.

The hatter I had worked with gave me three hats as a parting gift. One was a red miniature top hat with a satin rose, another was a cream miniature bowler with white flowers, the last was a black and pink feathered fascinator.

Currently I was wearing the cream hat with a white dress, a brown and gold corset and a brown bolero jacket. I took off my hat and jacket before pinning my hair in to a loose bun. I looked at my appearance in the dressing table mirror until a knock came at my door.

"Dinner is ready." Aradia's voice called though the door. I tucked a stray lock behind my ear and went down to the dining room.

I had seen the dining table earlier and it had looked much too big for the three people who lived in the house. Now I learned that it was not just us three who were eating. It was also two men, and neither were the quite sort.

One of them, Karkat, was a loud mouth who apparently worked at a newspaper. The other, Sollux, was an accountant for the Queen with a terrible stutter. They were both very opinionated and intelligent, Karkat because he was well informed and Sollux because he was book smart. They were both attractive blokes, but not my type.

"I'm just saying! Those pirates are becoming more popular than the queen herself!" Karkat practically yelled in my ear. My ears perked up at the mention of pirates.

"Pirates?" I asked, feigning cluelessness. Karkat looked at me like I was stupid before cracking into peals of laughter.

"Right, you're new! The pirates are Dirk and Vriska. They are infamous around here!" He said. He took a gulp of his drink. I had a feeling that being drunk was only going to make him louder, but I was taking care not to voice this opinion.

"Those two are really robin hoods. They steal from rich merchants and fly off to distant lands to distribute their wares to the needy around the globe!" He shouted. I cringed a tad. Conversation did what it tended to do, it turned. It turned right to me.

"So Gwen, what are your plans?" Aradia asked.

"Plans? I plan to work in the dress shop I suppose." I stated simply.

Working in the dress shop really was the only thing I had planned for my time in London. When I left Boston I left everything I ever knew; my family, my friends, even my almost lover. I have no life here in London, yet.

"Nothing else?" Mrs. Cage asked. I shook my head. "Well, have you considered entering high society." I shook my head once more.

"Mustn't you be born into high society?" I asked. She shook her head.

"Anyone with the right connections and rise into high society, and you-" She pointed at me with her fork. "Have all the right connections." She finished. Everyone around the table nodded.

"You're at just the right age to make your debut this season as well." Aradia added. Mrs. Cage smiled.

"Then it is settled, this Christmastime Gwendolyn will make her debut into London society! I shall be her escort and Aradia her maid." Mrs. Cage stood up. "Me and Aradia will clean up, you boys hurry home. Gwen, could you go up to your room and get ready for bed? A lady needs her beauty rest." She said.

I nodded and stood. The men followed my lead and excused themselves from the table. Sollux bent down and gave Aradia a kiss on the cheek. Karkat came over to me and took my hand, shaking it roughly.

"It was nice to meet you, Gwendolyn!" He shouted. If I had to endure his voice for a long period of time, I fear I might go deaf. Sollux came over to me and gracefully lifted the hand Karkat had just shaken, raising it and brushing it with his lips.

"Ith was a greath pleasure to make thour acquaintance, Mith Gwendolyn Guinee of Bothton." He said with his stutter. Mrs. Cage gasped.

"What a lovely idea dear!" She said. She clapped her hands in excitement. "Miss Gwendolyn of Boston!" She exclaimed before going on to clear the table. Sollux and Karkat retrieved their coats and hats from the rack by the door and with one last goodbye, they were gone.

I made my way upstairs and into my room. I changed into my nightgown and let down my hair before crawling in bed. I fell asleep without any thought, only acceptance for what was to come.


End file.
